Railway foot-gitard



J. B. EWART.

RAILWAY FOOT GUARD.

APPUCATION FILED MAR. 29. 1919.

1,323,358. I Patented Dec. 2,1919.

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JAMES B. EWART, OF NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY FOOT-GUARD,

Application filed March 29, .1919.' Serial 110,286,193.

Tov all whom it may concern-.

Be it known that I, JAMEs B. EWART, a citizen of the United; States, residing (at North Andover, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway Foot- Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to guardsapplied to railway track rails at frogs, switches, and crossings, to bridge the recesses under the 'heads of the rails and prevent the shoes of persons and the hoofs of animals from being wedged in .said recesses, particularly when the recesses form parts of a space between two adjacent rails, as in a frog or a switch, or when the recess of one rail forms a part of a space between the rail and an oppositely facing surface which is not formed by a rail.

The invention has for its object to provide a guard for this purpose, adapted to be secured in its operative position by the usual rail-engaging bolts employed, in connection with fish-plates or otherwise, to connect adjacent rails end to end.

The invention is embodied in the improvements which I will now proceed t describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railway frog equipped with guards embody.- ing the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on a larger scale, on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective sectional view of a guard formed as shown by Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is 'a cross section of a'crossing rail, and of a guard embodying the invention adapted thereto.

Fig. 5 is a perspective sectional view of a guard formed as shown by Fig. 4. p

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the'figures.

12 represents the body of my improved guard, the same being preferably an elongated strip of suitably thick sheet metal rolled, pressed, or otherwise formed to provide upper and lower bearing portions. As shown by Figs. 2 and 3, the upper bearing portion 13 is formed to'bear against one of the side faces of a railhead 15, and the lower bearing portion 14, formed to bear on a fish-plate 16. As shown by Figs. 4:.

Specification of Letters Ii'atent.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919;

and 5, the upper bearing portion 13 is formed to bear on the under side of the rail head, and the lower bearing portion 14* is formed to bear on one of the rail flanges. In eachcase the body 12 bridges therecess under the rail head, so that said recess'is separated from the space between adjacent ra1ls,-as shown by Fig. 2, and from the space betweenthe single rail shown by Fig. 4:, and any oppositely facing surface adjacentto the rail, the body" 12 ineachcase" preventing a shoe sole or heel, or a hoof fromrbeing caught under the overhanging or outwardly projecting portion of the rail head. 7 V

The body 12 is provided with means located at its inner side' and between vits bearing portions for engaging the heads of a plurality of the usual rail-engagingbolts 18, such as those used in connection with fish-plates or otherwise, to connect adjacent rails end to end.

I have embodied said means in spaced apart angular or hooked flanges 19, projecting inwardly from the body 12, the hooked form of said flanges being produced by bending the flanges to form ears 19 which are so spaced from the body 12, that the'heads 18 of the bolts may bear on the inner sides of said ears. When the usual bolt nuts 20 are loosened, the guard is engageable with the heads of a plurality of bolts by a longitudinal movement of the guard. 'When the guard is suitably adjusted, the nuts are tightened to cause the bolt heads to firmly clamp the ears19 The flanges 19 are preferably integral parts of a sheet metal strip,

which is bent to form the flanges andv a flange-connecting neck 21. Said neck, as

here shown, is attached to the body 12 by rivets 22, although it may beattached by electric or other welding, or otherwise. i The neck 21 constitutes a' reinforcing member which stiflens the body 12, and the hooked flanges constitute struts which resist pressure tending to bend the body 12 inwardly. V

I claim:

1. A railway guard formed to bridge the recess under a rail head, and composed ofa body having upper and lower longitudinal bearing portions,'and spaced apart longitudinal hooked flanges projecting from the inner side of the body, and formed to simultaneously engage the heads of a pluralityof rail-engaging bolts, the said fianges'being engageable with said bolt heads by a longitudinal movement of the guard when the bolts are loosened, the hooks of said flanges being clamped by the bolt heads when the nuts of said bolts are tightened 2. A railway guard substantially as specified by claim. 1, the said guard including a neck connecting said flanges and attached to the body, said neck constituting a reinforcing member. I Y

3. A railway guard 'con'iprising an elongated sheet metal body formed to bridge the recess under a rail head, and having upper and lower longitudinal bearing portions, and a longitudinally extending sheet metal innerportion, including a neck constituting a reinforcing member attached to the body, and bearing on the inner side of the latter, andhooked flanges integral with said neck, and'formedto simultaneously engage the heads of a plurality of railengaging bolts.

4. A railway guard formed to bridge the recess under a rail head, and having upper and lower longitudinal bearing portions, and means located a the inner side of said guard between the said bearing portions for engagingthe heads of a plurality of rail-. engaging bolts.

0. A railway guard formed to bridge the recess under a rail head,;and=having upper and lower longitudinal bearing portions, and a reinforcing member located at the inner side 01" the guard between said bearing portions, and provided with means for engaging the heads of a plurality of railengaging bolts.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

JAMES B. El VART, 

